LEWISTON — Brisa Ventures, a New York investment and development firm based in Brooklyn, acquired Place Ste. Marie this week, a 40-unit affordable housing apartment complex on Oxford Street, for an undisclosed price.

Permits have been filed for a nine-story residential building at 4-44 Beach 67th Street in Far Rockaway, Queens. Located between Beach Channel Drive and Thursby Avenue, the lot is near the Beach 67th Street subway station, serviced by the A train. Ericka Keller-Wala of Brisa Builders Corp. is listed as the owner behind the applications.

BROWNSVILLE, BROOKLYN — A massive affordable housing development in Brownsville has reached its final stages.

The Ebenezer Plaza project — which will bring more than 500 affordable apartments along New Lots Avenue — broke ground this week on its final phase of construction, a 208-unit complex on Christopher Street.

When completed, the complex will mark the final step in the $364 million project, which officials have worked on since at least 2014 as a way to address Brownsville's housing crisis.

Ebenezer Plaza is a three-phased project—comprising of 523 units of affordable housing, 40,000 s/f of community facility and 25,000 s/f of commercial/retail, we commenced construction in July 2018, and we completed the first two phases in November 2021 consisting of 316 units of family housing, 47,500 s/f of community facility and commercial retail core and shell. Aside from the co-developer, we served in the CM role for this project located in Brooklyn, NY, not far from where I grew up.

February 25, 2022, New York, NY – Enterprise Community Partners, with support from Goldman Sachs, today announced the launch of a new Roundtable that will develop a shared policy platform to include recommendations to confront the challenges faced by Black women affordable housing developers in New York City.

The Roundtable will meet over the course of 2022 and will comprise six for-profit and nonprofit Black women developers: Ericka Keller, Brisa Builders; Dawanna Williams, Dabar Development Partners; Alexis McSween, Bottom Line Construction & Development; Nnenna Lynch, Xylem Projects; Bernell Grier, IMPACCT Brooklyn; and Yvonne Stennett, Community League of the Heights. Participants will ascertain and discuss the unique barriers that they encounter in developing affordable housing in New York City, identify policy priorities to address those barriers, and collectively work to advance and support a shared policy platform.

This 88-unit senior residence is named for the founders of the Evangelical Crusade Christian Church, a nearby Haitian religious community that originally owned the property and advocated for the project for decades. In 2019, the church and Brisa Builders broke ground on the residence, which opened this past spring. BPHN meets sustainability standards and has a live-in super. The apartments have stainless-steel appliances and a video buzzer. Offices for Selfhelp, a senior-support nonprofit, are on the second floor, and there’s a private outdoor terrace and a community room with a TV. The church plans to open a senior center next door, where it will run yoga programs and host food pantries.

BELCHERTOWN — A recently awarded $250,000 state grant will allow the town to remove a building from the former Belchertown State School and remediate the site.

The money comes courtesy of the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund, which is administered by MassDevelopment. It will go toward removing the old power plant structure from the site of the Belchertown State School on Carriage Drive and cleaning up the one-acre site on which the structure sits.

Hundreds of new affordable housing units have come to Brownsville, thanks to a local church that spearheaded the long-in-the-works Ebenezer Plaza development.

The first phase of the project opened Friday atop two lots — one at 672 Powell Street and the other at 96 New Lots Avenue, containing a combined 315 units of affordable housing units.

The units at 672 Powell Street are reserved for households with earnings at or below 60 percent of the Area Median Income.

HARLEM, NY — A stunning theater in Hamilton Heights that has suffered from years of neglect could be saved and redeveloped into affordable housing — but a community board pushing the restoration must first raise millions of dollars to make it a reality.

The Department of City Planning (DCP) is now reviewing proposals to construct two new affordable housing properties for seniors and a charter school in Arvene, Queens, a waterfront neighborhood on the Rockaway Peninsula. The proposed buildings will take shape along Beach 67th Street between Beach Channel Drive and Thursby Avenue.

BELCHERTOWN — MassDevelopment and the Belchertown Economic Development and Industrial Corp. (BEDIC) announced the selection of Brisa Ventures, LLC to develop a 12-acre parcel of land at Carriage Grove into a new mixed-income residential community featuring approximately 100 units of housing.

Brisa Ventures will also preserve and redevelop the existing former Belchertown State School administration building into a community center, museum, cultural space, meeting space, and either a restaurant, brewery, or distillery. Construction of the development is projected to begin by the end of 2022 and is expected to be complete within 18 to 24 months.

For decades the women of New York have been at the forefront of the local business community, running companies in industries as diverse as law, media, construction, finance and architecture. Today there are nearly 600,000 women-­owned businesses in New York, the most of any city in the U.S.

The statistic reflects women’s grit and determination to succeed professionally. The figure also represents numerous pioneer business owners, some of whom have been in their roles for decades.

BEDIC, MassDevelopment Select Brisa Ventures, LLC to Build New Residential Community at Former Belchertown State School & Repurpose Former Administration Building for Community Center, Museum & More

The former Belchertown State School Administration Building, which will be redeveloped into a community center, museum, cultural space, meeting space, and either a restaurant, brewery, or distillery

CHICOPEE — A New York developer has been selected to build a 102-unit apartment building, a multi-sport indoor facility and a brewery and restaurant on a four-acre parcel of land that once was home to the Facemate factory complex.

City officials announced on Wednesday that Singing Bridge, LLC. was chosen as the preferred developer for the 4.05-acre site on West Main Street, after a long negotiating process that began in January 2020 when the city requested proposals from developers interested in building on the land.

CHICOPEE – A development company envisions the last remaining parcel of the Facemate property to be the site for a brewery/restaurant, housing with 102 units and a large indoor athletic center.

Mayor John Vieau made the announcement at the site near the RiverMills Senior Center on April 7. He called it a “significant milestone for the city.” The Facemate site has already been developed with the RiverMills Center and an assisted living facility

The Department of City Planning recently reviewed and assessed proposals to construct Glenmore Manor, a ground-up affordable housing development in Brownsville, Brooklyn. Located at the intersection of Christopher and Glenmore Avenues, the development is one of several residential components in the Brownsville Plan, an initiative to revitalize and invigorate the surrounding area.

The development team includes the African American Planning Commission (AAPCI), Brisa Builders, and Lemle & Wolff. Think! Architecture + Design served as architect of record.

Bishop Philius and Helene Nicolas (BPHN) Senior Residence at the corner of New York Ave and Farragut Road is the latest affordable housing project for seniors completed in Brooklyn. The seven-story building brings 89 much-needed units to East Flatbush.

Evangelical Crusade of Fishers of Men church members joined residents and local and city elected officials to celebrate the new development following the Sunday service. The celebration started with a prayer, followed by the singing of the Haitian and American National Anthems.

A massive affordable housing lottery has opened for 106 units in a nine-story building located at 96 New Lots Avenue in Brownsville.

It is part of the first phase of the long-gestating Ebenezer Plaza, which will, in total, result in four buildings across two large lots. An affordable lottery for another building in the complex, with an address of 672 Powell Street, launched in February 2020.

Right off the New Lots Avenue station on the L train, a new rent-stabilized building has launched a mixed-income affordable housing lottery for those earning 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, and 80 percent of the area median income. Located at 96 New Lots Avenue, the site is part of the larger Ebenezer Plaza project that will bring four towers to two sites on the block. The available units range from $362/month studios to $2,037/month three-bedrooms.

Two Black-Owned Firms Building Relationships, Communities, & Wealth One Project at a Time

New York, NY National Standard Abstract and Brisa Builders are breaking ground in more ways than one, exemplifying the importance of Black entrepreneurship and generational wealth in creating stability within underserved communities through housing opportunities and philanthropy. Ericka Keller of Brisa Builders has committed her organization to circulate dollars within the ecosystem of Black entrepreneurs. An example is engaging one of the largest 100% Black-owned companies in the industry, National Standard Abstract, to provide title insurance for all of her real estate transactions.